Thorax injuries occur in 80% of cases. These injuries cause cardiovascular system trauma; 47.6% had a ruptured heart and 35% also had a ruptured aorta. “More than two thirds of the fatalities had abdominal injury…
Helicopter crashes have a fatality rate of 1.3 deaths per 100,000 flight hours. This statistic is a stark reminder of the danger associated with helicopter travel. It highlights the fact that, despite the many safety measures in place, helicopter crashes can still be fatal.
In a separate filing cited by the Journal, attorneys for the families wrote that the 157 people onboard "undeniably suffered horrific emotional distress, pain and suffering, and physical impact/injury while they endured extreme G-forces, braced for impact, knew the airplane was malfunctioning, and ultimately plummeted ...
While flying a helicopter is more dangerous than flying commercial, it's safer than driving a car. On a per-hour-traveled basis, you're more likely to die in a crash in a car, truck, or SUV — than in a helicopter.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), helicopters crash at a higher rate than airplanes. The crash rate for general aircraft is 7.28 crashes per 100,000 hours of flight time. For helicopters, that number is 9.84 per 100,000 hours.
Many helicopter accidents involve pilot negligence, recklessness, or error. An intoxicated, distracted, or tired pilot may make a mistake and lose control of the aircraft, leading to a crash. Pilots should also ensure a helicopter is in good working order before a flight.
The plane's upturned nose made it unstable, and it buffeted as it fell, Wise reports. For a passenger in the cabin, with no instruments to keep him or her oriented, the sensation would have been one of falling and buffeting, the plane rolling back and forth.
They had run out of altitude. “Ah, here we go,” said Captain Thompson, uttering the last words captured on the cockpit voice recorder. Less than one second later, Alaska Airlines flight 261 slammed into the Pacific Ocean, obliterating the aircraft and instantly killing all 88 people on board.
According to almost all of them, a pilot will only inform passengers if there's adequate time to prepare for an emergency landing - and all you're likely to hear in the most severe situations is 'brace for impact'.
The chance of survival is greatest if the helicopter remains upright at least long enough for occupants to escape, but the chances can still be good if it remains afloat at or near the surface and the consequences of capsize can be addressed.
Speaking at Heli-Expo in Atlanta, Head of Airbus Corporate Helicopters, Frederic Lemos, said: “The ACH160 is the most technologically advanced, comfortable and safest helicopter in the world and the Exclusive configuration beautifully complements its remarkable performance.
A crash in a helicopter will be survivable only when the impact forces to the body are minimal and the occupants have means to escape safely. The majority of helicopter crashes are survivable due to helicopter cabin design, onboard safety equipment, and pilot & passenger training.
The helicopter went down about 10 miles offshore from Southwest Pass, a shipping channel at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Bodies of 4 Who Died in Gulf of Mexico Helicopter Crash Are Recovered.
Flight recorder data showed that Flight 261 crashed into the Pacific Ocean at 4:22 p.m., at a speed of more than 200 miles per hour.
In radio conversations with the ground, the pilots indicated that their problem was with the plane's horizontal stabilizer, the winglike portion of the tail that controls the up-and-down pitch of the aircraft's nose.
Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was an Alaska Airlines flight of a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 plane that crashed into the Pacific Ocean on January 31, 2000, roughly 2.7 miles (4.3 km; 2.3 nmi) north of Anacapa Island, California, following a catastrophic loss of pitch control, killing all 88 on board: two pilots, three cabin ...
Of the 228 people onboard who perished, 177 bodies are still missing. Fifty-one bodies were recovered in the days following the May 31, 2009, crash, which occurred shortly after Flight 447 took off from Rio de Janeiro en route to Paris.
Between 5 May and 3 June 2011, 104 bodies were recovered from the wreckage, bringing the total number of bodies found to 154. Fifty bodies had been previously recovered from the sea. The search ended with the remaining 74 bodies still not recovered.
France's Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA), which investigates aircraft accidents, found in 2012 that the plane was falling more than 10,000 feet per minute when it hit the ocean but had a forward ground speed of just 107 knots, about 123 miles an hour, well below the stall speed of the Airbus A330.
The red zone is a totally a no go area as the dangers associated with it are numerous. It is impossible for the pilot to see you in this area and the rotor wheel also creates another great danger. As a passenger, while approaching the helicopter, always follow the safety protocols.
Helicopters are equipped with freewheeling units which disengage the engine from the rotor system in the event of an engine failure. Any time the geared engine RPM (revolutions per minute) is lower than that of the rotor RPM, the freewheeling unit disengages. Helicopters also have controllable pitch rotor blades.
Helicopters lack the ability to glide like a aircraft if they run out of fuel, but they have something somewhat similar, and that's the ability to auto-rotate. If the engine stops, the pilot can configure the rotor to windmill, which will slow the descent and allow the helicopter to slower descent to the ground.